Snape returned late that evening. Tori had waited up for him, to ask him about the poster-business. He looked tired, but pleased with himself.

“So, who was it this time?” she asked.

“Detention, you mean? Davis, third year, Ravenclaw. He managed to melt his cauldron before I had authorized them to start brewing. Clever enough, but he thinks that he knows better than his teacher. Come to think of it, he reminds me of someone…”

“No way!! I never thought that I knew better than you!” she interrupted, but by the look on his face, he seemed to think otherwise.

“Anyway, did you HAVE to put an ugly troll on that poster?”

Surprised by this change of subject, he let his guard down and curled his lips.

“You didn’t think that I would let them get away with it that easily, did you? I had to do it fast and I couldn’t come up with anything more suitable. Although the thought had crossed my mind to put a picture of you on the poster.”

“ME?” the horror on her face made him laugh.

“Oh, it’s alright for me to be put on display like that, but not for you?” he raised one eyebrow and she realized that he was actually teasing her.

She smiled and joined in: “I hope that Teen Witch doesn’t get too many complaints about it.”

“Why should I care?” his usual brute tone was back.

They spent a rather enjoyable evening together, until he noticed that she was dozing off.

“Tori, you look worn out. You should get some sleep.”

She was fighting to keep her eyes open and sighed. “I don’t know what it is lately, I’m soooo tired.”

He got up and walked to his potions closet. “I could give you an energy potion if you’d like.”

“No, I’ll be fine. I think it must be from the worry about the article and everything.”

Tori went to bed and fell asleep instantly. Snape joined her after a little while and took her into his arms, placing a little kiss on her forehead. She did seem tired lately; he cursed himself for not noticing early. He had been too busy blaming her for everything that went wrong. Not that he wanted to, but so many things had irritated him over the past few days and she always seemed to have something to do with them. Would they ever get any peace and quiet?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Snape stood in the front of the classroom after having just explained how to brew the day’s potion to the seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins. They were gathering the ingredients, getting ready to start brewing. As he was facing a Slytherin cauldron, he watched Ginny Weasley from the corner of his eye. The girl was shamelessly ogling him. That one would go after anything in pants!

“Weasley, haven’t I told you to insert the ingredients BEFORE you boil the water? Five points from Gryffindor for not paying attention. Start again!”

“But sir, the class has nearly finished.”

“You will stay until your potion is ready.”

Ginny sighed, that meant skipping lunch.

Meanwhile, Snape saw that Draco Malfoy had lost interest in his cauldron. The boy was grinning at someone. Richards, no doubt.

“Richards! Five points from Gryffindor, for distracting a fellow student!”

When the class finished, he saw that Ginny Wesley was ready to leave with the others.

“Weasley, didn’t I tell you to finish your potion?”

“It is finished, sir,” she told him with a little smile.

He walked over to her cauldron and had to admit she had spoken the truth. He tried to control his breath when he felt his anger taking over.

“You will stay and clean up the classroom.”

“What for?” she asked him rebelliously.

“In your haste to get out of here, you could have made a vital mistake. I feel that you need to learn some respect for the delicate art of potion brewing.”

She looked at him with all the hate that she felt inside herself.

“Start cleaning, Miss Weasley, I’m sure that you wouldn’t want to lose any more house points.” With that he gave her a large bottle of bleach. She turned up her nose at the small brush that he gave her, but she saw no other way out of it and started working, cursing that irritating, arrogant, cold-hearted devil. If only he wasn’t so damn hot!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tori would be teaching Charms all day. Professor Flitwick said that he wanted to travel to exotic places once he had retired and because of that he needed a new wardrobe. He went on a shopping trip and told her that he absolutely had to have some Hawaiian shirts. She doubted he would find any of them in England during the winter, but she didn’t have the heart to spoil his enthusiasm.

After lunch, she had the seventh year Gryffindors. She saw Shannon and Ginny talking to each other, both shooting glances at her. When the class had ended, they came up to her.

“Tori, umm, Professor Bloom…” Shannon corrected. “Can we ask you something?”

“You just did, but go ahead.” She thought it would be something about their lesson, but clearly she had been mistaken.

“Could you have a word with Professor Snape?” Shannon continued.

“About?”

“Well…he’s really having a go at Gryffindor, for no reason, and we were wondering…since you are living with him…maybe…”

“Maybe I can soften him up, you mean?” When she saw that hopeful look in her eyes, she sighed. “Both of you should know that I can’t do that. Besides, Professor Snape has always treated Gryffindor that way, I remember it quite well.”

“Yes, but that was because of Harry. He was never this mean to the other years. Now…well, he just deducts points at will and Ginny had to scrub the entire classroom, her hands still stink from all of that bleach and she didn’t get time to eat anything at all for lunch.”

“No, Shannon. I will not interfere with his way of teaching. If you have any complaints, go to Dumbledore, it doesn’t involve me.”

But something happened that would change her mind. When the Gryffindors were gone, she only had to wait for the second year Hufflepuffs, who had just finished their Potions class. When they came in, she noticed that they were extremely silent. A pin could have been dropped in the room, and it would have been heard. The walked in and went straight to their seats and she saw that one student was missing.

“Where is Simon Carter?” The little boy reminded her quite a bit of Neville Longbottom and she knew that he liked to sit in the front of the room. No one answered, but just when she was about to ask again, she saw him appearing at the door. He was shaking all over and his sobs prevented him from speaking.

She went over to him, told the class to start reading about warming charms and took him with her into Flitwick’s office. She tried to calm down with some chocolate. “Tell me Simon, what’s wrong?”

The boy looked up at her with fear in his eyes. He shook his head; he didn’t want her to know.

“Come on, you can tell me. Was it something that happened in Potions?” Only Snape could have this effect on a student, so she figured that he was reluctant to tell her because of her relationship with Snape. The boy looked at her again and comforted by the understanding in her soft hazel eyes, he started to talk.

“I lost 30 points in Potions today.”

That was a lot of points. “What for…” she began, but he started talking again.

“I…I’m not any good at it. I keep forgetting the dosage of the ingredients and what the ingredients are for. Professor Snape says that I should have repeated a year.”

He started crying again and Tori felt that she needed to take him into her arms to soothe him. He was trembling all over and somehow she knew that he hadn’t told her everything.

“Is there something else?” she asked him gently.

“Yes, err…I have detention tonight and Professor Snape said that he will quiz me on all of the ingredients from all of the potions we’ve learned so far. If I cannot come up with the correct answers, I will have detention with him until the end of the term.” The despair in his voice was killing her and she held him tight.

“Don’t worry about it too much. Say, if you like, I’ll be there tonight. Would you like that?” He nodded fiercely and dried his tears. “Now come with me, we have some nice charms to learn today.” Together they went into the classroom, where his eyes constantly followed her in admiration.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

During dinner, Tori whispered: “I need to talk to you before you go back to your classroom.” He nodded, but didn’t ask her what she needed to talk to him about.

When they entered his room, she decided not to beat around the bush.

“Severus, did you have to be so hard on Simon Carter?”

He turned around, and his eyes narrowed. “What do you mean with hard? He is way behind his fellow students and I’m giving him the opportunity to catch up, that’s all.”

“But did you have to insult him like that? It humiliates him in front of his classmates.”

He sighed, losing his patience. “Tori, the boy is a total disaster; do you expect me to praise him for that?”

“No, but some encouragement wouldn’t hurt, instead of putting him down.”

His eyes shot fire now and he raised his voice slightly. “I’m sacrificing my own free time in an attempt to get something into that empty brain of his. It is my experience that you don’t get anywhere with children like that by being ‘nice’ to them.”

Tori sighed deeply. She knew she should leave the topic alone now; but she couldn’t get that tearstained face out of her mind. “Severus, why don’t explain it to him like you just did to me?”

“I don’t need you to tell me how I should talk to my students. Did he come whining to you?”

“He was very upset in Charms today, and I sort of promised him that I would be there tonight.”

“What?!?” One moment she thought he would slap her in the face, but he only narrowed his lips to a fine line. “You will do no such thing. I’m the Potions Master! Not you!!”

“Severus, don’t be mad, but he’s never going to be able to concentrate on anything if you’re watching him like a hawk.” She pleaded.

He clenched his fists, the anger taking over his entire being. “I think I told you that I don’t want you to interfere with my way of teaching. It is none of your business!!” he bellowed.

“It is when it disturbs my classes!!” She yelled back.

“Stay out of it.” He hissed.

They were facing each other; hate flickering in their eyes. Simultaneously they looked away, both at some other point in the distance. Tori lowered her head when he spoke.

“It’s not working, is it?”

“Not when we keep arguing like this. It’s killing me.”

“Tori, you must understand that I cannot have you criticizing my way of teaching. Only Dumbledore can do that. By doing so, you make it seem like you are questioning me as a person. You ask too much if you want me to change my personality.”

“You ask the same of me if you want me to ignore that you are bullying the students.”

Both Tori and Snape sighed. “Listen, think about it. I will go to detention now and if you still feel the same way by the time I return…”

“I understand.”

He went out and closed the door, leaving her alone in the cold room.

Tori sat down and looked at the door. She had been staring at it ever since he had closed it, suppressing the urge to run after him, wrap her arms around his neck and beg him to tell her that everything would be all right. It was over, that much she knew. The constant arguments and snapping had caught up with her; it sucked the life out of her. She couldn’t allow it to destroy her. Her eyes scanned the room. It had become home for her, ever since they had carried him in after the attack. She would miss it as she would miss him, but there was no other way. They demanded too much from each other. She should have realized it from the beginning instead of letting herself fall in love with his glorified image she had of him in her mind. Now it was time to face reality. She stood up and gathered her belongings. As she was on her way out she noticed Crookshanks was looking at her from his favorite spot in front of the fireplace.

“Coming?” she asked, expecting the cat to jump up and follow her. He seemed to narrow his eyes and looked at her as if she had lost her mind to suggest such a ridiculous thing. He let out a soft ‘meow’ to inform her of his disapproval.

“Fine then, stay here if you like, you little traitor.” She took one last look and headed for the solace of her own rooms in the Gryffindor tower.

When she got there, she sank down on her bed. She wanted, no – needed to cry, but for some strange reason her tears seemed to have left her. Sadness overtook her and the weight of it pressed hard on her shoulders. Where would she find the courage to take her through the next days? Facing all those people that only recently found out about them and now she had to admit to them that she had failed. How on earth could she have believed that she would be able to change him? She stretched out on the bed, her eyes staring at the ceiling. She had never lost a battle before. Admitting defeat was worse than having to face a million trolls, especially since she had invested so much of herself in it. For the first time, her heart was in danger and there was nothing her famous brain could do to prevent it from breaking. Finally the tears came running down her cheeks. She would have liked to tell herself he wasn’t worth it…but he was, oh yes, he was worth every drop of salty wetness that came flooding from her eyes. She didn’t make any attempt to wipe them from her face; the stains the tears left on her skin were merely a passing reflection of the everlasting scars on her heart and soul.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She was gone. He instantly knew it from the moment he had opened the door. While she was with him, he had always sensed this warm sensation when he entered the room. Now there was only coldness to greet him.

He felt a chill creeping up his spine and gradually the spark in his eyes died, leaving a black void. All life seemed to have left him as he wandered around the room like a zombie, every now and then touching empty spaces where her things had been. Suddenly he was aware of her cat following him across the room.

“SHOVE OFF!” he hissed, but the cat kept rubbing against his legs. He chose to ignore it and went over to sit in his favorite chair in front of the fireplace. The cat jumped on his lap and curled itself up. He stiffened, but didn’t make any movements to scare it away. As he looked into the dying fire, he thought of how an appropriate metaphor it was for their relationship. He had known all along it wasn’t meant to be, but like some blinded fool he had let himself get carried away and fall in love with her. He knew the girl and her habit of meddling with other people’s affairs. What on earth had made him believe that she wouldn’t try to do the same to him? Because she loved him? That would only prove to be the greater incentive for her to stick her nose in things she had no business in interfering with. Was he that bad a judge of character or did enchantment cloud his reasoning? He would go through fire and water for her, but changing his personality by 180 degrees meant that he would be living a lie and he could not do that. It wouldn’t be fair on him, nor on her.

He stared in front of him for what seemed like an eternity, reliving every moment of their short time together. When he dozed off, one small glittering tear came gliding down his cheek.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tori feared the confrontation with her colleagues and the students. No doubt they were already aware of the fact that she didn’t live in the dungeons anymore. She tried to keep to herself as much as possible, eternally grateful for Flitwick’s return from his shopping expedition. At least she didn’t have to teach today.

Indeed, the news of Tori and Snape’s split had spread like wildfire through the school. In general, Snape was made out to be the big bad wolf. He didn’t seem to care and ignored all the whispers and glances. He carried on as usual, but didn’t feel the usual satisfaction when he took points from Gryffindor. The students knew better than to ask him about ***, so they turned to Tori instead. Shannon Richards was chosen to ask for more information and feeling terrible that her request from the previous day might have something to do with the split made her anxious to talk to Tori. She caught up with her outside the Gryffindor common room.

“Tori, I’m so sorry. I hope it wasn’t because what we said yesterday?” she looked compassionate and Tori didn’t know what she hated the most: Snape’s indifference towards her or the looks of sympathy she got from everyone.

“No Shannon, not entirely, I guess it has been going on for a while. We just argued too much. Let’s keep it at that, I don’t want to get into it any further right now. I’d like everyone to give me a little time to come to terms with it.”

Shannon nodded understanding and gave her a hug. Tori fled to the library, afraid she might burst into tears if she had looked at Shannon’s sorrowful face for one moment longer. The library had always been a safe haven for her and since she had concentrated on potions for the last months, she had become a bit rusty where her charms were concerned and found that she had a lot of catching up to do. Halfway through the afternoon, Minerva McGonagall came along.

“Tori? I heard about what happened. I wanted to let you know that if you need to talk about it, I’m here for you.”

She looked p and smiled gratefully. “Thank you, but it’s something I have to deal with myself.”

McGonagall sighed. “I know, but I also know Severus can be a real pain. If there’s any chance you two might reconsider…”

Tori shook her head and McGonagall, seeing that she was close to tears, left her alone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Snape returned to his dungeon that night, he noticed that he had a visitor.

“Hmm, Remus, I wondered how long it would take you to get down here and give me a piece of your mind,” he grumbled. “That is what you’re here for, isn’t it?” he asked when he saw the confused look on Remus’ face.

“Actually, I came to get my potion, since you seem to have forgotten about it, but now that you mention it…”

“Come in, I’ll give it to you.” Snape was startled, he had forgotten about Remus’ potion. Clearly he was more affected by all this than he had made himself to believe. He gave the potion to Remus, who drank it, put the goblet down and pulled him towards a chair.

“Now, let’s have that talk that you thought I came for.”

“Shouldn’t you be heading back?”

“Don’t change the subject. Tell me what happened.”

Snape jerked up. “If I needed a psychiatrist I would go to a professional one, thank you.”

“Oh Severus, your usual sarcasm cannot mask your sadness. I sense it you know.”

Snape let out a deep sigh and started talking. Hesitantly at first, but more and more agitated when he came to last night’s events.

“Yes, I can see you’re finding yourselves in a dilemma here. I fear that if neither of you are willing to make some concessions; this relationship of yours is doomed indeed. Aren’t you going to fight for her?”

Snape looked up. “With what? Court her with flowers? Starting all over, letting our feelings take over again, when I know very well it will lead to the same ending.”

“Yes, but I don’t mean that you have to do this right away, Tori is still very young, with all the glowing ideals that come with youth. Maybe in a while, she might think differently about things.”

“No, she will not.” Merely a whisper, but very determined never the less.

Remus decided that there was nothing further he could do and left the dungeon to go and fight his own demons.

That night, both Tori and Snape were lying in their respective beds, alone, having pretty much the same thoughts. They tried to figure out where it all went wrong. Shouldn’t their love for each other have been strong enough to overcome these differences? Both concluded that sometimes, love just isn’t enough…

The first days apart were incredibly difficult. Tori had grown accustomed to having his arms wrapped around her during the night and found herself lying awake for hours, unable to find a comfortable spot. The days weren’t much better. When she saw him in the Great Hall or at staff meetings, she had to suppress the urge to slap him in the face. He seemed to ignore the fact that there had ever been anything between them. *Ugh, he’s such a jerk!* But when she was alone, reading in the library for instance, she daydreamed about their time together. Even while talking to other people her thoughts often wandered to the dungeon. How strange that a place so sinister could hold such warm memories! She was eternally grateful for Flitwick’s presence. He never talked to her about Snape, but his excited babbling about his upcoming retirement was just what she needed to take her mind off of things. He let her teach most of the Charms cases now and listened carefully to her suggestions, giving her advice when she needed it and praise when she earned it. After a week, her relationship with Snape seemed like a blurry dream and she found that she could actually look at him without having her stomach turn. Not that she dared to look him in the eyes, no, that was something she was rather reluctant of. Although she didn’t know what frightened her so much about it: fear of what she would see in them or that she wouldn’t see anything in them at all.

Snape wasn’t any better off. He had thought he could get things back to the way they had been before without much trouble. He couldn’t have been more wrong! Each time he saw her in the Great Hall, looking paler than ever, the heartache was almost unbearable. He had to fight the need to go to her and shake her up to make her see sense. Instead, he tried to appear as inscrutable as always while he buried his pain deep inside. No one must know how deeply this had affected him, least of all Tori. He didn’t need any sympathy and wasn’t asking for it. Luckily they all left him alone, including Lupin. While he managed to convince most people that he had been unaffected by the break-up during the day, the evenings were pure horror. Everywhere he turned, something seemed to remind him of her former presence in his domain: a short note in her small, but clear handwriting, the scent of her delicate perfume on his pillow – which he refused to replace, long strawberry brown hairs on the floor of his bathroom… He tried to avoid his room as much as possible, returning only to sleep and then he buried his head in his pillow, absorbing her perfume, dreaming that they were still together. Simon Carter’s detentions gave him the perfect excuse to escape from his room. After the first session, the boy seemed to have left behind his worst fears for his teacher and was actually beginning to learn something. Snape found that he rather enjoyed this private tutoring. He was careful not to hand out any other detentions on the days that young Carter would be there, knowing the boy wouldn’t be as comfortable when others were there to witness his ignorance. Gradually he got back to the routine he had longed for, creating an unnatural escapist reality for himself.

Dumbledore had watched his two teachers with concern. He was happy to see that their break-up didn’t result in them ending up as total wrecks, although he noticed that it wouldn’t take much to get them there. Severus seemed a little bit too unaffected by all of this and Tori worried him even more. The girl didn’t look good. Knowing that she had skipped meals before, he carefully kept his eye on her in the Great Hall, but she served herself as usual. He sighed. Maybe he was too old for this kind of stuff and had been wrong in assuming that it would all work out. He knew that they could be great together, but apparently Tori was not ready to deal with a complex personality like Severus’. Oh that boy surely knew how to trouble an old man! One might think he had learned his lesson by now. Clearly both of them had some growing-up to do. He patted Fawkes on the head, murmuring: “It seems that your gift was in vain, my dear friend.” And then he turned to see green sparks hissing in his fireplace.

Dumbledore was surprised to see Molly Weasley stepping out. “Molly!!” he welcomed her, “What a surprise to see you here! I trust everything is all right with Arthur?”

She needed a moment to find her sense of direction again before she spoke: “Fine Albus, but I needed to see you right away. Actually, I think you might assemble your staff as well.”

“I think so.”

Only minutes later, the staff, including Bill Weasley was gathered in Dumbledore’s office.

“OK, I’ve asked you all to come here because Mrs. Weasley has something to tell us, go ahead Molly.”

She looked a bit overwhelmed by being in the center of attention, but when she caught Bill’s encouraging smile, she found her voice again. “I got a letter from Fred and George today.”

Everyone smiled when they thought about the Weasley twins that were taking America by storm with their inventions.

“They wrote that they could have sworn they saw Lucius Malfoy the other day.” Those words had the effect she had anticipated. Everyone was looking very worried now.

“Of course, they don’t know he escaped, but knowing them I think that they might suspect something, so I’ve sent a message back to warn them not to go after him.”

Dumbledore raised his hand to stop them from talking in confusion.

“I know we’ve tried hard to keep the news of Lucius’ escape out of the papers, but maybe that was a mistake…Molly, do you know where they might have seen him?”

“Err…I remember Fred saying they were in Florida, but planned on going to New Orleans, so it could have been anywhere along…””

“He’s in New Orleans.” Snape cut her short. All looked at him.

“That’s where all dark wizards like to go when they’re in America. I assume he’s looking for some kind of support.”

Dumbledore scratched his beard. “Might he try some voodoo of his own?”

“No, I don’t think so. Whatever he’s planning, he doesn’t want to do it alone.”

“Right,” Dumbledore was ready to get into action. “I’ll inform Alastor and the Ministry. We must remain vigilant now that we know he is back and up to something. Molly, you did well to tell your sons to stay out of it, he’s a powerful wizard and a very angry one to say the least.”

The next day, Dumbledore was able to tell them that the Ministry had sent two Aurors to New Orleans to track Lucius Malfoy down.

They increased the security on Draco, who was informed of his father’s whereabouts. He didn’t know of any family property in the New Orleans region, so the search might take some time.

With all of this new excitement going on, Tori hardly realized that it had been two weeks since she had left the dungeon. She still felt an aching emptiness inside her, but was happy to know that she was able to function almost normal again.

December kicked off with a bang. She – and assumed Snape as well – received an invitation for the ‘Honoring the Heroes Reception’ later that month. She had almost forgotten about it and felt a little twist in her stomach when she thought she might have to have her picture taken with him. The news of the break-up hadn’t left Hogwarts yet, which was strange. Maybe Dumbledore had asked everyone to be discreet about it?

Shannon seemed deliriously happy lately. Tori found out why when she met Bill on one of her strolls along the lake.

“Draco proposed to her.” He told her, laughing at the look of astonishment on her face.

“Wow, that’s some news!”

“Yep, it’s going to be a very intimate ceremony in July, when they both have graduated.”

“This is really great. Oh…” she giggled, Bill looking at her in amusement.

“Something funny?”

“Oh yes! Just think about Ron’s reaction when he hears his little ‘sister’ is going to be a Malfoy.” She burst out into laughter, but Bill stopped her.

“No, no. Actually Ron already knows and wished good luck to the both of them. And Shannon is not going to be a Malfoy since Draco has asked if he could go by the Richards-name as well.”

Tori’s mouth dropped. “Wow, talk about giving up everything.” And then she laughed again. “If they ever find Lucius and tell him about this, they won’t need to kill him, I think he will explode at the very thought of his son becoming a Richards and forsaking the family name!”

Tori enjoyed being able to laugh again, but when she got back to her room the differences between her situation and Shannon’s became all too painfully clear to her. Shannon and Draco had as much troubles to overcome as Snape and herself, but somehow they had found a way to deal with them. Why had those two succeeded where they had failed? Not that she didn’t want them to be happy, far from it, but she couldn’t help but feel incredibly sad when she thought of what might have been.

Tori had immersed herself in the study of Charms, her new field of expertise. When she wasn’t teaching, one could always find her in the library, her nose buried deep into her books. She needed it to take her mind off of things. Strange, contradicting emotions seemed to overtake her. Sometimes she was so full of confidence she could take on the entire world, only to find herself without any belief in herself the very next moment. Something in the depths of her mind kept bugging her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, which didn’t help her troubled state of mind. Thank goodness her appetite didn’t seem to suffer, the last thing she needed was a worried Madam Pomfrey reprimanding her. No, she seemed to be one of those people that ate away her worries. What better place to do that than Hogwarts!

One day she found herself sitting in the Charms classroom, marking some papers when she wanted to check something in a reference book. As she was about to stand up from her seat, she saw the book levitating itself from the shelf, slowly floating towards her. Amazed at what had just happened, she tried again with a chair. It came straight to her, without her having to reach for her wand. The excitement ran through her veins. This was truly fantastic! She only had to think about the ‘accio’ spell and BAM; whatever she needed came to her. She jumped up from her chair and ran across the classroom towards the door. She had to tell Severus…she stopped abruptly in front of the door, sadness overtaking her. Of course she wouldn’t run down to the dungeons and tell him about her discovery, what on earth had she been thinking?

Slowly she turned around and went to her desk, when Professor Flitwick came through the door. Her face lit immediately.

“Professor! I have something to show you.”

She demonstrated her newfound skill and seeing Flitwick’s ecstatic joy was almost enough to compensate her earlier disappointment. They experimented some more and Flitwick jumped up into the air each time she managed to levitate or summon the desired object. She asked him if it were possible that she could learn to master every charm without using her want. He seemed to think about it for a while before he answered.

“Maybe in time, but ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ and ‘Accio’ are two of the most common spells. Therefore it’s likely that they are the only one’s you will be able to cast without your wand. However, keep trying; you never know what you are able to do until you try.”

The discovery in the Charms classroom had given her a new boost of energy. She returned to her room late that night, thinking that tonight she would go to sleep a happy person. When she was about to get into bed, she heard a cat meowing. It was Crookshanks. She would recognize that arrogant, demanding meow anywhere. Her cat was calling her. Damn thing, why did Hermione have to give him to her, now she had no other choice than to go to the dungeon. When she was on her way down, she noticed the meowing didn’t come from the dungeons at all; it sounded more like it came from outside, maybe the lake. She went out and rushed for the lake, maybe Crookshanks was in trouble?

Severus had an absolutely rotten day. Not only had he overslept, his students seemed to have forgotten the essentials of potion brewing. He returned from a crowded detention session and longed for a hot bath. As he walked into his room, Crookshanks slipped between his legs, running out. He closed the door, thinking that he didn’t have to be its keeper and the animal might want to go out to catch some mice. When he was soaking in his tub he tried to let go of today’s irritations, but every time he closed his eyes, the image of Tori’s pale, sad face came haunting him. He decided it wouldn’t work and got out again, his relaxation session was not helping to lift his spirits. Just as he was about to call it a night, he heard Crookshanks meowing. He walked towards the door to let him in, but the passage was empty. Then he heard it again…and again. He knew it wouldn’t stop if he didn’t give in to it, that much he had learned about that cat. Law should forbid such obnoxious pets. Obviously the creature had gotten itself into trouble and now he had no choice than to go after it, otherwise he would have to explain to Tori why her cat had been harmed. Bloody cat! The noise came from outside, he put on his cloak cursing that ginger ball of fur and left his room. He walked across the lawn towards the lake where he saw the cat sitting calmly with his head up high as a token of his superiority. Then he noticed he wasn’t alone.

She turned around when she heard him whispering her name.

“Tori”

“Severus”

She was surprised to see him there, but then remembering that Crookshanks lived with him now. The uneasiness of being alone with him after what happened paralyzed her. She wanted to tell him about her wand-less magic, but didn’t have the nerve, fearing a sarcastic comment.

He stood there motionless, drinking in her beauty, every part of him aching to touch her. How he missed her! He felt that he needed to say something, but there were so many dangerous subjects he thought it would be safer to stick to the one at hand, being Crookshanks.

“Did you hear him as well?” he asked monotonous, trying very hard not to let his voice betray that his heart was longing for her.

“Yes, I thought he might be in trouble, so I went after him.”

“So did I.”

They stood there in silence for a moment, both feeling awkward.

“Err, is he all right?” she asked, not knowing what else to say.

“He’s fine, yes.”

His short answers didn’t help much either!

“Will you take him back to the dungeons?”

“If he wants to, yes, I’ve discovered that this cat has a mind of his own.”

Tori let out a little nervous giggle and he had curled his lip as well. His remark about Crookshanks’ independent nature had lifted the tension for a while, but not for long. Soon they were staring at their feet again, lost for words, but not willing to put an end to the moment.

It was a cold night and Tori inadvertently shivered when she realized she wasn’t wearing her cloak.

“Cold?” Snape asked, and before she could say anything he had taken off his cloak and draped it around her shoulders. She tried very hard not to blush, cursing herself for the effect the slightest touch of his hands had on her.

“Thank you.” She managed to say.

They looked at the cat as if they were waiting for him to tell them what to do. As if he understood what they were feeling, Crookshanks stood up and started walking towards them. First he curled around Tori’s legs and then he did the same with Severus, purring when he repeated this over and over. Obviously he was trying to say something, but they both chose to ignore it, although it would be an insult to their intelligence if they said that they didn’t understand his intentions.

“Well, I guess we might return inside and see where he goes.” Tori suggested.

“Let’s do so.”

They walked together to the castle, followed by what seemed to be a very happy Crookshanks. When they got inside Tori returned his cloak and Severus headed for the dungeon. The cat followed him, turning around and meowing plaintive when he saw Tori would not be coming with them. She patted him and looked up at Severus.

“Maybe I should have visiting rights?” she tried a little trembling smile.

“He’s your cat, you can come and see him whenever you like. He misses you.” When he said those last words, he knew very well that Crookshanks wasn’t the only one that missed her, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her know that!

When Tori got back to her room she was shaking all over. Being alone with him had affected her more than she ever would have imagined. Climbing into bed, her eyes glanced over the bedside table where his farewell letter was lying. She picked it up and re-read it once, twice…many times, until she knew it by heart. Not realizing that she had read it aloud, she was startled when she heard her voice break. Reading his words of love cut right through her heart, knowing he felt this deeply for her. No one would ever love her like that again, that she knew for sure. How cruel life could be to let two people fall in love like that when they could never be together!

Severus walked back to his dungeon, careful that the cat came inside before he closed the door. He turned around towards the cat and sneered at him:

“Did you HAVE to do that?”

Crookshanks gave a little meow and sat motionless, his head tilted as if he was trying to figure out why Severus was upset.

“Don’t you go and sit there all high and mighty, mister; you know damn well what I mean.”

Another soft meow and then the cat decided to let Severus stew for a while, slowly walking past him towards the fireplace where he curled up and ignored the angry wizard.

Severus mumbled something to himself about ‘going insane’ and ‘talking to cats’ while undressing.

Tori had been so close to him tonight, if he had stretched out his arm he would have been able to touch her. The moment that he laid his cloak around her was engraved in his memory and when she had returned it to him; her fingers had brushed his, sending little sparks through his body. He was well aware of the reasons that had prevented him from taking her into his arms. How foolish he had been to think he was over it? Being alone with her for just a few moments had turned his world upside down again. He needed to get a grip, before he lost it completely and would turn into a softhearted lover, only to make them both feel even more miserable in the end.

He tossed and turned but couldn’t sleep. What if he never got over her? He could always resign and leave Hogwarts of course, but then again…he was there first and he would stay, no matter what!

Tori was on her way to the Great Hall for lunch when Simon Carter came up to her.

“Professor Bloom? I just wanted to thank you.”

“Excuse me?” Tori looked puzzled.

“For talking to Professor Snape I mean” the boy continued.

“Oh, but I…” She wanted to tell him gently her talk with Severus didn’t go very well, when he interrupted her.

“I’ve been really catching up on my Potions lately. Yesterday I got very good marks on my test and Professor Snape told me that I won’t need anymore tutoring after Christmas holidays.”

Tori didn’t know what to say. She was thrilled for the boy, but didn’t have anything to do with it. The boy left her with an even bigger shock when he said: “Now I understand…you know…why you like him.” Then his face turned red and he hurried away.

She had no idea what to think of this. So he hadn’t scared the child after all, good for him, but she needn’t make a big deal out of it. Maybe he had been civil to the boy because of their heated argument. Maybe their break-up had resulted into something good for someone after all!

Much to her surprise, she encountered Ron and Harry at the Head Table.

“Ron! Harry! What are YOU doing here?” They were the last people that she had expected to see.

Ron and Harry had been talking to Bill and Lupin when they arrived and were aware of her break-up with Snape. Not that anyone needed to tell them something was wrong with their friend. With one look at her, they knew she was in big trouble.

“Tori how are you?” Ron gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek, with Harry following his example. Tori instinctively knew to what she owed this warm greeting.

“Someone told you?”

“Err, yes, Bill did. Tori, I’m so sorry.”

“Me too, I know I didn’t like him at first, but then, well, I guess…” Ron found it hard to finish his sentence, but decided there was no need to after seeing the understanding look on her face.

“Guys, I’d rather not talk about it too much. Just tell me why you’re here!” She tried to look excited but succeeded only partly.

“We are here to let Albus know we’re going to New Orleans and we wanted to talk to Severus about what we can expect when we arrive there. What we’re up against, that is.”

“You…together?”

Ron laughed. “Yeah, the return of the gruesome twosome! No, seriously, the other two Aurors can’t find him and asked for assistance. My father has asked for help from the American Ministry and I am to act as their liaison.”

“I hope you’ll be careful.”

“Sure!” Both grinned. “You know us.”

“That’s why I’m reminding you.”

They laughed together and Tori was really glad that they had come to Hogwarts. With Ron and Harry she would always share that same old carefree feeling of mischief from her schooldays again.

She returned to her classes while Harry and Ron went down to the dungeons to look for Snape.

They talked about Tori on the way down. Both were very worried about her.

“She looked awful Harry. I’ve never seen her this pale before.”

“I know. This is obviously affecting her badly. I feel I have to give her more support, you know, be there for her, but now we’re going to New Orleans…”

“Yeah, talk about bad timing. I would like to stay here too. Poor thing, she looks like she just failed the most important test of her life.”

They looked at each other, realizing that Ron’s words were not far from the truth.

When they entered the Potions classroom, Snape wasn’t there.

“Hmm, I recall Albus saying he has a free period, maybe he’s in his private rooms.”

Harry led Ron further into the dungeon and knocked on the door to the lab. It took a while before Snape answered it and when he did, he seemed very absent; they even had to explain twice why they were there.

He invited them into his room and offered them a seat. While he talked about the wizard population in New Orleans, Harry couldn’t help inspecting the room. It looked so different than the way he had remembered it! Black robes hanging on chairs, books scattered all over the floor, a lot of empty goblets on the bedside table…it looked like the meticulous Professor Snape had become a slob overnight.

Snape didn’t know all that much about the dark scene in New Orleans, he only had been there once and had tried very hard to forget what he had seen there.

“You can compare it to Death Eater gatherings over here, but they add more ‘show elements’.” The look on his face prevented them from asking more details. He told them that most wizards got together in ‘Le Professeur’, the equivalent of The Leaky Cauldron. Harry said that the other Aurors had been there, but found no evidence Lucius had gone anywhere near the place. Snape didn’t seem convinced.

“Look for Joseph Devereaux, he’ll know if Lucius was there, but be careful not to tell him that I sent you.”

They talked some more about Lucius’ possible plans, but that could be anything and in the end they were merely speculating. Then Harry spotted Hermione’s cat, well technically it was Tori’s cat now.

“Hey Crookshanks, what are you doing here?” he patted the cat, while Snape murmured almost inaudibly:

“He wanted to stay here.”

Ron’s eyes grew bigger and Harry’s mouth dropped, but neither of them said anything. When they had left, they didn’t know if that had been such a good idea.

“Maybe we should have asked him to go and talk to her?” Ron said.

“Umm…I don’t know. He doesn’t strike me as the sensitive type and judging by the way he looked I’d say he hasn’t sorted himself out yet.”

“True, the place was a mess and he looked like he was on drugs or something. But if Crookshanks…Harry, we’ve got to do something, this can’t go on any longer.” For Ron things were very clear now, if Crookshanks thought that staying with Snape was the best option, then Tori was destined to be there too.

“I know, let’s go and see Remus, he told me he had the afternoon off and maybe he has some ideas.”

When they got to Remus’ room, he wasn’t surprised to hear what they came for.

“We all want them back together again, but sadly, neither of them are prepared to change their minds.”

“Just explain to me what happened exactly, I still don’t get it, they were so happy?” Lupin told Harry and Ron about the frequent arguments leading up to a big blow when Tori had questioned Snape’s method of teaching. Their ‘strategy-meeting’ as they called it continued until dinnertime. They decided to catch up with Tori in the Great Hall and have a good talk with her after dinner.

Meanwhile, Snape thought he might stay in his room that evening. He had seen the look on Harry’s face when he saw the state the room was in. He sighed and forced himself to clean up, finding comfort in these domestic tasks. Just imagine what Tori would say if she saw this mess when she came down to visit Crookshanks! Not that he thought she would come often. Maybe he could arrange it so that when he was out she was here visiting. He had to avoid being alone with her again, that was far too dangerous for his own good.

Harry and Ron kept shooting glances at each other during dinner. Tori didn’t seem to notice and followed them for a walk outside without getting suspicious. They walked towards their favorite spot by the lake. Harry decided to kick off their little talk.

“Tori, Ron and I would like to talk to you about Severus.”

The change in her was radical when she heard those words. No longer did she laugh and she forced her face into an indifferent mask.

“What’s there to talk about?”

“Tori, this is us, remember? We only want to understand.” Ron added.

“What’s there to understand? You of all people should know Severus is an impossible man. I really tried, but I just can’t live with him.”

“What exactly is the problem?” Harry asked.

“Do I have to spell it out? He’s bullying his students and refuses to admit he’s wrong, what’s even worse is that he accuses me of interfering and says it’s not my business.”

“Err; you say you gave up on him because you do not agree with his way of teaching?”

“Among other things, yes mainly I think. Come on Ron, you’re not going to defend him are you? Have you forgotten what he was like when we were here? How he treated us? Neville?”

Ron was quick to answer, as if he had waited for her to say that.

“Talking about Neville…I’ve seen him recently and he told me he has a lot to thank Snape for.”

Tori looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I sort of know what he meant by that. You see, out there in the real world, no one is as nice as Hagrid or as wise as Dumbledore. Perfection does not exist in a normal person. You would be surprised to see how many Snapes or worse there are out there.”

“So you say I shouldn’t wait for mister perfect and be grateful for one that comes close?”

Harry cleared his throat, he sensed they were nearly there; Tori was bright enough to see sense.

“Tori, tell me, when you first fell in love with him, did you know about his nasty temper?”

“Of course I did Harry, don’t be ridiculous.” She sounded offended, but both Harry and Ron could see that she was starting to realize something.

“Now, try to imagine what Severus would be like if he were to change his way of teaching, never scolding a student, always being nice to everyone…can you?”

“Yes”

“What do you think? Would you like that man?”

“Of course.” She answered very quickly.

“But would you feel passionate about him? Could you love him?” Harry sounded very hopeful, for he was almost certain of what her answer was going to be.

Tori closed her eyes and tried to imagine her Severus as the man that she had wanted him to be, the nice Severus. In a flash her eyes were open again.

“That would not be him. He’d be boring.”

Harry and Ron looked triumphant, but were startled when she began to cry.

“Umm, Tori, what’s wrong?”

“Ooooh, I’ve been such an idiot.” She let out between her sobs. “Thinking I needed to change him to love him. Now I see I only wanted to mold him into some artificial ‘good guy’ so everyone would understand why I could love him. I shouldn’t be concerned about what other people think. He’s just the way he is and that’s what I liked in the first place. I’ve been focusing way too much on his teaching, but I’m in love with the man, not the teacher…it’s just a part of his personality and without it he just wouldn’t be the same. Oh dear…” She was crying freely now and Harry put his arms around her, Ron not knowing to do with crying women. She managed a little smile. “Thank you for making me come to my senses. It seems that I have a lot of thinking to do.”

“You sure do, and some talking as well.” Harry hinted.

Her face fell when she thought about having to face him again.

“What if he can’t forgive me?” Panic was overtaking her.

“We saw him earlier, and I think we can say he was looking every bit as miserable as you do.”

“Thanks for the compliment. But seriously, I wasn’t the only one that did the yelling. Maybe he’s given up on me.” Tears came running down again.

“Tori, you don’t honestly think that, do you?”

Harry chuckled: “Show that Slytherin some of your famous Gryffindor courage and go get him!”

Tori smiled through her tears that were still running.

“Yes, I will get him. I must have him!”

The three of them held hands as if they were making a pact; Tori vowed that she would do anything to restore her broken relationship, Harry and Ron being rather pleased with themselves.

“Maybe we can start a career as marriage counselors.” Ron winked, while both Harry and Tori began rolling their eyes.